The MSU Campus Newsletter is a monthly electronic publication of the Minnesota State University, Mankato Division of University Advancement. It is intended to inform faculty and staff members about events and achievements at MSU, Mankato. Send items for future newsletters to michael.cooper@mnsu.edu.

University Named to National Honor Roll

Minnesota State Mankato has been named to the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll. The list was released by the Corporation for National and Community Service. Institutions were recognized for outstanding work in curricular and co-curricular service-learning efforts, exemplary volunteer opportunities, institutionalized commitment to the growth of service and volunteerism and efforts specific to Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. Minnesota State Mankato was selected on basis of its Jumpstart program, early childhood education/literacy programs, Hurricane Katrina relief efforts and the Campus Kitchen Project.

The Honor Roll is co-sponsored by the Corporation, the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, USA Freedom Corps, and the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation. The recognition is presented in cooperation with Campus Compact, a national coalition of nearly 1,000 college and university presidents, and supported by all the major national higher education associations.

Campus Kitchens Receives National Recognition

Campus Kitchens Leaders

Minnesota State University's Campus Kitchens project won the national organization's award for Excellence in Programming. The program was one of two programs in the nation to be recognized as an award winning program by the National Campus Kitchens Project.

Campus Kitchens uses leftover food from campus residence halls to serve over 300 meals per week to families and adults in need. Student volunteers run the program.

This national recognition came just one week before the program was honored with a "20 in 20 Award" from the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation. The program was given a $5,000 award for commitment to community and regional economic development in southern Minnesota at an Oct. 10 awards luncheon.

Give Blood, Get a Burrito

Upward Bound Program is sponsoring a Red Cross Bloodmobile from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 7 in the CSU Ballroom. Appointments can be made by calling 389-1211 or by going to the Give Life website (enter sponsor code univmankato). Walk-ins are accepted as well. Donors will be given certificate for a free burrito at Chipotle.

Diversity Award Nominations Due Nov. 3

The Office of Institutional Diversity at Minnesota State University, Mankato is seeking nominations for individuals and groups who have promoted cultural diversity on campus or across the community. Nominations are being accepted through Nov. 3.

The Clarence E. Harris Humanitarian Award will be presented at Institutional Diversity's 36th annual dinner on Friday, November 17, in the Centennial Student Union Ballroom.
The evening begins with a silent auction at 5 p.m. followed by the dinner and program at 6 p.m. This year's emphasis will be placed on the Asian American population. For ticket information and Clarence E. Harris Humanitarian Award nomination forms, contact the Office of Institutional Diversity at 507-389-6125.

Genealogy Expo Nov. 4

Open to anyone interested in researching their family history, the sixth annual South Central Minnesota Genealogy Expo will take place from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Nov. 4 at the Minnesota State University, Mankato Centennial Student Union.

Local author and family historian, Gail Mikkalson will speak on "Memories vs. Memorabilia" at a general session beginning at 8:45 a.m. Mikkalson will discuss the difference between memories and memorabilia in family research and the importance of both in recording one's family history.

Registration is $25. A box lunch is also available to participants. The event is co-organized by the Minnesota State University, Mankato Library and the Blue Earth County Historical Society.

Lecture Explores Links Between Agriculture and Disease

The Kessel Peace Institute is sponsoring a talk by animal rights activist Michael Greger, on Tuesday, Nov. 7. The lecture, "Surviving the Next Pandemic: Bird Flu and Other Emerging Infectious Diseases," will be at 3 p.m. in CSU 253. Greger is an investigator of the relationship between agricultural practices and the emergence of epidemic infectious diseases.

Presidential Teaching Scholar Series

The 10th Annual Teaching Scholar Series will be Nov. 6 through 10. The series will present the work of the 2006 Presidential Teaching Scholar Fellows and begins with a reception hosted by President Richard Davenport at 9 a.m. Nov. 6 in the CSU Heritage Room. Teaching Scholars' Presentations will be held during brown-bag sessions from noon to 1 p.m.

Good Thunder Poets Terrance Hayes and Jim Moore on Campus Nov. 2

Jim Moore

Terrance Hayes

Minnesota State Mankato's Good Thunder Reading Series continues with a residency by Pennsylvania poet Terrance Hayes and Minnesota poet Jim Moore on Thursday, Nov. 2. The writers will conduct a craft discussion at 3 p.m. in the CSU Ostrander Auditorium and read from their published work at 7:30 p.m. in CSU Room 253. All events are free and open to the public.

Hayes is a professor of creative writing at Carnegie Mellon University. Moore is a professor at Hamline University in St. Paul and Colorado College. For more information about the series, call Richard Robbins at 507-389-1354.

New Trash Cans

Eye-catching and trash-collecting

Over the next several weeks, new purple-and-gold Minnesota State Mankato trash cans will be placed around campus. The new cans will replace the old, off-white "Mankato State" cans. The new cans represent one more way we're showing pride in our school colors!

Flu Shot Clinic Nov. 27

Flu shots will be available for all state employees from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday, Nov. 27 in the CSU Ballroom. There will be no out-of-pocket cost to state employees, if they present their State of Minnesota Advantage Health Plan member ID card. If you do not bring a valid card, the cost is $20.

For state employees who cannot attend this event, clinics will be held at selected state agencies in Minnesota from Nov. 27 to Dec.13. Employees may attend any available state agency flu shot clinic, with the exception of the correctional facility sites. Clinics are on a walk-in basis. Free vaccinations are available at employees' primary care clinic or MinuteClinic with a State of Minnesota Advantage Health Plan member ID card.

The Department of Recreation, Parks and Leisure Services received National Accreditation from the National Recreation and Parks Association/American Alliance of Leisure and Recreation. It is the only nationally accredited RPLS curriculum in Minnesota State. The program has been nationally accredited since 1987.

University Publication Receives Award

Minnesota State University, Mankato won the National Orientation Directors Association Publications and Media Showcase Award in the category of "Outstanding Welcome Week Publicity." Copies of the publication were displayed at the Oct. 28 - 31 NODA conference in Salt Lake City. NODA provides education, leadership and professional development in the fields of college student orientation, transition and retention.

Faculty/Staff Achievements

Torin Akey (Residential Life) has been selected to serve on the On Duty Advisory Board for 2006-2007. On Duty is a newsletter published for resident assistants, and is distributes to more than 800 colleges.

Stewart Ross (Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning) presented a workshop at the Professional Organization Developers Conference in Portland, Oregon on Integrated Course Design. He also was one of six finalists from around the country for the Innovation Award for the MSU Certificate Program for Faculty.

Rachael Hanel (Mass Communications) presented "Anonymous Death: The Forgotten Patients at the State Hospital for the Insane, St. Peter, Minn." at the Death and Loss in America conference hosted by the Museum of Funeral Customs in Springfield, Ill., on October 21.

Soonhwan Lee (Human Performance) had the article "Factors in Identifying Interest in Establishing a Scholastic Basketball League" published in the Missouri Journal of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance.

Sherry Folsom-Meek (Human Performance) has been selected to receive the 2006 Lou Keller Award. The award honors services and contributions given by a university professor in the HPERD field. Dr. Folsom-Meek will be honored at the MAHPERD Awards banquet on October 12th in Moorhead.

Do you have faculty, staff, student or departmental news for the biweekly campus newsletter? Send news items to newsletter editor Mike Cooper at michael.cooper@mnsu.edu. The newsletter is published every other Wednesday during the academic year and monthly during the summer. The next newsletter will be published Nov. 15, 2006. The deadline for that newsletter will be the previous Wednesday (Nov. 8).